


Will: Son of Green Arrow, Nephew of Heroes

by Ballycastle_Bat



Series: DCTV Gen Events [1]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012), DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Anxiety, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Fluff, Gen, Graduation, Not Canon Compliant, Smart William Clayton, Speeches, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-08
Updated: 2019-02-08
Packaged: 2019-10-18 05:52:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17575061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ballycastle_Bat/pseuds/Ballycastle_Bat
Summary: William's parents miss his valedictorian speech in person, but his extended family is there to back him up.





	Will: Son of Green Arrow, Nephew of Heroes

**Author's Note:**

> [[Warnings: None.  
> An: So psyched to kick off the first day of the DCTV Gen event! I was only able to do two of the three days but I think I like what I did for both.  
> So I always really liked the idea of all the heroes being a big family. Esp where the next generation is concerned. Though I haven't seen too much of that. (William doesn't use family terms to refer to anyone on the teams, compared to Zoey calling Dinah 'aunt Dinah')  
> Prompt: Team as Family]]

William took a deep breath, and held it for a few seconds. Something Barry had told him about once. _Or was it Caitlin?_ He couldn't remember. It had been so long ago now. He let the breath out, his eyes focusing on something in the room. He settled on the burgundy graduation cap in his hands. He looked up from his seat in the large auditorium. The room was loud and crowded, but that was to be expected of a graduation ceremony.

The whispers around him confirmed that his father, the Green Arrow had arrived. His eyes finally landed on them. His parents, Oliver and Felicity.

He waved and the pair waved back, Felicity giving an enthusiastic thumbs up. He looked back down. He was pretty far down the list. They were still at the _Devons_ and the _Deckers_. He tried not to worry about the speech he was going to have to give as Valedictorian.

It took awhile for them to get down the list, there was a lot of kids at Starling City North. The graduating class was over nine hundred kids. Even rushing as much as they could it was difficult. When they started on the _Patels_ and the _Petersons_ , William’s row was instructed to stand. William rose to his feet, but when he glanced up, Oliver and Felicity were leaving.

His heart dropped into his stomach.

There was an emergency.

It wasn't fair. He wanted his dad just _once_. Maybe it was selfish, he didn't care. Every other day he managed it, he _accepted_ it. Not today though. This was the one day he needed his dad, and he wouldn't be there. When William’s row was moved to the line before the stage, whispers started again.

He looked up at the spot his parents had left from. What he was seeing made him blink a few times. The Flash stood beside Vibe. To their left was Killer frost with a camcorder on her palm. He stared at them and Flash gave him two thumbs up like Felicity had, 100 watt smile visible even from this distance. Frost gave a quick wave, and Cisco an informal salute, a little too caught up in looking ‘cool’ for a public appearance.

William smiled back at them and waved.

“William Queen.” His voice was finally called.

“Woohoo! William!” Flash cheered, his vibrating voice echoing off the walls of the gym even with all the people filling it.

A woman beside him gave him a wide eyed look. “That's our nephew!” Flash informed the woman proudly.

As he watched William walk across the stage and receive his diploma, Frost followed him with the camcorder.

When he sat down again, it was still going to be long while before he gave his speech.

Finally, he approached the podium, his hands slick with sweat that he wiped on his gown. His eyes darted around the room until they fell on the Flash. The hero gave him a firm, reassuring nod. He calmed slightly. “Central City North High School, class of 2025. Most of you only know me because my dad is the Green Arrow, but I'm kinda required to give a speech here.” He laughed softly. “I hope this is a good send off, here we go.” He cleared his throat. “People are always asking me if I've learned anything cool from having my family. They always expect me to say that I can shoot an apple off someone's head or more dramatic; can kill someone. I can't do any of that, though.”  
  
William glanced around the room, stopping only for for a moment to look at his notes. “I've learned more important things though that I would like to send you off with. The Green Arrow taught me how to look at a situation from every angle before rushing in. The Flash taught me to see the good in people. Vibe taught me to never forget how to have fun. Kid Flash taught me that it's okay to take a step back and take time to find yourself, and finally, the Legends taught me that _every_ choice is important, so make it a good one, and some things happen for a reason."  
  
"I want you to leave here today thinking about doing some good with this, and never give up. I’ve learned to be careful, but not cold, to find myself and trust myself. Most importantly, I've learned how to persevere. I wish the same for all of you, I hope you find yourselves, and like who you find. I hope you make good choices but have fun with it, I hope you never give up. So I'm sending you off to make choices and forge your own paths.”

* * *

When everything calmed down and William was on his way to meet up with team Flash, the communication device on his watch started to beep. He flipped it open and was greeted by the smiling faces of Sara Lance, Ray Palmer, Nate Heywood, and Ava Sharp were all huddled by Gideon so they could be in view.

“Hey, William! Frost was able to stream us your speech too! You did fantastic!” Sara grinned and waved.

“Way to go, buddy!” said Ray excitedly.

“You did great, man! You've got a heart almost as big as ol’ Ray’s here!” Nate gave Ray’s shoulder an affectionate squeeze.

“Thanks, guys!” He grinned at them.

“Even Mick listened for a little bit!” Ray pointed out.

“You did good, Kid!” William recognised Zari voice off camera. He imagined her barely glancing up from whatever had her attention.

“You presented exceptionally.” Ava spoke a bit awkwardly, only really speaking up because she was _there_ at the time.

“Hey, Will, over here!” Barry’s voice cut through the crowd.

“I have to go, thanks everyone!”

“Bye, Will! We love you.” Sara blew a kiss at the camera before hanging up.

William closed the watch on his wrist moments before he was scoped up in a tight hug. Red leather sticking to the skin on his cheek. “Flash!” he grinned and hugged Barry back.

Other people were staring, but William didn't care. His family was there. William hadn't forgotten about his extended family, but he didn't expect them all to come through for him like they had and it was a bit of a rush. When he was released from the bone crushing hug, Vibe offered him a fist bump, and Frost patted his shoulder with a “You did good, kid,” and a “Caity is super excited.”

Once William was done catching up with and saying goodbye to his tiny friend group, the group left. They headed out to the back where it easy less crowded, stepping through a breach. William wasn't sure where it would lead.

However, he soon found himself in the D.E.O. Admittedly, he had only been to Earth Thirty-Eight a handful of times. Also, most of these times he was there it was usually to be dropped off at Catco. Sometimes the heroes would drop him there and make him pretend to be the new inturn until the current tragedy was settled.

“I thought we could change into some street clothes and get some food,” said Cisco with a shrug as he removed his goggles. He also took an opportunity to tie his long hair back gently with a small clip.

“That sounds good to me.” replied William. “I just wish my dad could be with us.”

The room got quieter until Caitlin threw an arm around his shoulder. “I'm sure it will go great!”

“Are we late to the party?” Oliver asked stepping through a new breach with Felicity. Felicity clicked the button on the extrapolator in her hand to close the breach behind them.

Oliver squeezed William’s shoulders. “I'm sorry that I couldn't be there in person,” he started,pulling William into a hug. “but you were with me every step of the way, Cisco wired you to the comms. I am so proud of you.” He gave him a quick squeeze before pulling back. “Now, are we all going out to dinner with your aunt Kara?”

“I heard food, so I am in,” Kara appeared and offered William a high five. “Sorry, there was an emergency, I missed your speech but I'll watch later.”

With that, they headed out to dinner. William’s dad might not have been there in person for his speech, but he wasn't alone. He had his family with him, and he always would.

**Author's Note:**

> [[P.S. I chose to have them there as their hero-selves because Oliver is out as the Green Arrow in this current season]]


End file.
